Last night, I was a tad flustered. I put in a long day at work, went to class, stopped at the grocery store, and got home late to find a teething PB, a dead cow, an orphaned calf, and a hungry husband.
Yep, that’s right, we will be bottle feeding another calf. One of my cows croaked, and left her 8-day old calf behind for us to raise. I was just hi-fiving myself about saving $40 at the grocery store using my newfound couponing hobby only to walk in the door to find out I just lost about $900. Ouch. And she died because she laid her head down the hill. Isn’t that crazy? That’s happened to us so many times. A cow will lay down, and her head will be facing down a hill. She’s got so much weight behind her, that she can’t get up (hmm, reminds me of myself at 8 1/2 months pregnant). So she just lays there and and bloats (no way! too much like pregnancy) until she eventually dies (or in my case, delivers a big-headed baby). So, the point here is if you see a cow laying with her head pointed down the hill, WAKE HER UP for pete’s sake! This pointless information will come in extremely handy if you ever find yourself on a hill surrounded by sleeping cows….
Anyway, I was really starting to feel sorry for myself. I was tired, stressed, and starving and Ben was gone to get the calf. PB was crying and fussing non-stop (I feel sorry for the little guy, he’s cutting more teeth right now; we’re already up to 2 teefers!). Nothing was soothing him, so I decided to go ahead and give him a bath. I stripped him down naked, and he was still screaming. I was about two seconds away from going in my closet, turning off the lights, sitting in the corner, and sucking my thumb, when all of the sudden PB let out the loudest, longest, big boy ‘stinker’ I have ever heard. It even seemed to startle him! And then he smiled and laughed, and so did I. And then all my frustration melted away and the world was a happy place again.
If you have made it through this seemingly purposeless story of dead cows and flatulence, I commend you!But, hold fast, there is a point! How many times do we let silly little things steal our joy in life? Too often, it seems we get wrapped up in silly little things beyond our control that we miss out on all of the little blessings that God bestows upon us. I’ve heard the saying a million times: too blessed to be stressed. And how true that is! When I stress about finding time to care for a new calf, or when I worry about the loss of some money, I know that God made me for more than stress or worry. He does always take care of us, and He will always take care of us. Instead of focusing on silly little things, I want to redirect my focus onto the many little blessings He gives us each day, like a healthy little baby boy, with a healthy dose of gas………….
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| Ben, PB, and Ann, our other bottle-fed baby |
